Electric-circuit closer for looms.



No. 657,795. Patented Sept. Il, |900.

H. W. SMITH & W. H. REDDING. ELECTRIC CIRCUIT CLOSER FOR LOOMS.

(Application filed July 13, 1898.)

^ ttmRq EY.

ma' Noam: crans on.. Puouumo.. wAsmNowN. a. c, I

UNiinn STATES PATENT rrrcs.

HARRY lV. SMITH AND WILLIAM H. REDDING, OF l/VORCESTER, MASSA CHUSETTS.

ELECTRIC-CIRCUIT CLOSER FOR LOOMS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 657,795, dated September 11 1900.

Application filed July 13, 1898. Serial No. 685,832. KNO mOdel.)

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that we, HARRY WV. SMITH and VILLIAM H. REDDING, citizens of the United States, residing Vorcester, in the county of Vorcester and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Electric-Circuit Glosers for Looms, of which the following is a specification, accompanied by drawings forming a part of the same.

Our improvements relate to that class of electric-circuit closers for looms which cornprise an electromagnet operatively connected with a belt-shifting mechanism and forming part of an electric circuit which is normally open, but is closed to energize the electromagnet and stop the loom before the weft bobbin or cop in the shuttle is exhausted; and our improvements relate particularly to the devices controlled by the weft for closing the circuit and stopping the loom before the weft is entirely lwithdrawn from the shuttle.V The use of an electromagnet operatively connected with a belt-shifting mechanism is old and forms no part of our present invention. Ve have therefore omitted a detailed description of that portion of an electric stop-motion for looms and have conned the drawings and description to those devices by which the circuit is closed when the weft is nearly withdrawn from the shuttle. The employment and construction of an electrically-operated belt-shifting mechanism will be well understood by those conversant With this class of stop-motions, and any known method of connecting an electromagnet with a belt-shifting mechanism-such, for example, as that shown in the patent to Brooks, No. 473,378, dated April 19, l892-may be used with our improved circuit-closer. v

The objects of our invention are to simplify the construction of that part of an electric stop-motion for looms by which the circuit is closed before the weft is entirely withdrawn from the shuttle, to render it more certain in its action, and to secure theclo'sing of the circuit as soon as the shuttle begins to enter the shuttle-box, and these objects are accomplished by means of the devices hereinafter described, and set forth in the annexed claims.

Referring to the drawings, Figure l represents a top view of one end of a lathe of a loom with a shuttle-box mounted thereon and l a shuttle contained in the box. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the shuttle. Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional View on line 3 3, Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrow l, Fig. l. Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of one end of the shuttle on line 4 4, Fig. 1; and Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view on lines 5 5, Figs. l and 2.

Similar numerals refer to similar parts in the different figures.

Referring to Fig. 1, 2 denotes one end of a lathe of a loom, having a shuttlebox 3 mounted thereon, containinga shuttle 4. The shuttle-box comprises a back 5 and a binder 6, pivoted at 7 to the lathe and arranged to exert a yielding pressure against the side of the shuttle and clamp it between the binder and the back 5 by means of a linger S, pressed againstthe free end of the binder by a torsional spring 9 in the usual and Well-known manner. Attached to the inner side of the back 5 is a metallic strip 10, preferably extending the entire length of the back in contact with the shuttle, and upon the inner side of the binder is a similar metal strip 11, to which metallic wires 12 and 13 are electrically connected, said wires 12 and 13 and strips 10 and 11 forming a part of an electric circuit, which includes an electromagnet and a belt-shifting mechanism operatively connect-ed therewith, whereby an electric current generated by a battery or other means is made to stop the loom. Attached to the vertical sides of the shuttle are metal strips 111 and 15, preferably extending the entire length of the shuttle and arranged to be brought into contact with strips 10 and 11 on the back 5 and binder G of the shuttle-box. Electrically connected with the metal strip 14 is a metal stud 16, projecting into the bobbin-chamber 17 of the shuttle. Pivoted to the stud 16 is a bar 18, extending transversely across the bobbin or cop chamber 17 and beneath the bobbin 19, with its free end entering amortise 2O in a lever 21, which is pivoted at 22 to the body of the shuttle and having a bent end 23 entering a slot 2l in the body of the shuttle, with the end 25 of the lever entering a chamber 26. The chamber 26 is conveniently formed by ICO boring a hole vertically through the shuttle and closing its upper end by a plug 27 and its lower end by an internally-screw-threaded metallic bushing 28, electrically connected with the shuttle-strip 15, holding a metallic screw 29, which can be adjusted by raising and lowering it in the bushing 28. The screw 29 is placed immediately beneath the end 25 of the lever 21,- and between the end of the lever and the plug 27 is a spiral compression- I spring 80, which tends to depress the end 25 of the lever 21 and raise the bar 18 and hold it against the weft contained upon the bobbin or cop 19. As the weft is withdrawn from the bobbin or cop the bar 18 rises until the end 25 of the lever 21 is carried into contact with the metal screw 29, thereby completing the electrical connection between the shuttlestrips 14 and 15. When the end 25 of the lever is in contact with the screw 29, the electric circuit is completed as soon as the ends of the shuttle-'strips 14 and 15 are brought into contact with the shuttle-box strips 10' and 11, which occurs as soon as the body of the shuttle begins to enter the shuttle-box,

and the electric circuit will be maintained during the entire period that the shuttle is entering or leaving the shuttle-box. As the shuttle passes into the shuttle-box a rubbing contact-between the electrical contact-strips 10 11 and 14 15 will be secured, with a uniform pressure against both the front and rear sides of the shuttle, by means of the spring-actuated binder.

The contact-surfaces between the .end 25 of the lever 21 and the screw 29 are inclosed within a chamber 26, which we term the cntact chamber, and are thereby protected from the adhesion of dirt and lint incident to the operation of weaving, which would break or impair the circuit. The arrangement of the pivoted bar and spring-actuated lever by which the bar is pressed against lthe weft independently -of gravity allows these portions of the mechanism to be placed at the bottomof the shuttle, leaving the upper portion of the bobbin or cop chamber free forthe removal and insertion of the bobbin.

The bobbin 19 is provided with a special shallow groove 31, which is in the plane of the pivoted bar 18 when the bobbin is placed in the shuttle, and the screw 29 is adjusted few weft-threads only from the bottom of the groove 31.

screw 29.

chamber for the protection of the contact-surcific means described, such vas the bar 18.and lever 21,. to control the electrical circuit by the weft upon the bobbin, as other devices can be employed, if desired. We prefer to em- This allows the weft to be f wholly withdrawn from .the bobbin, excepting a few threads in the groove 31, obviating the l necessity for a delicate adjustment of the ploy metallic strips 10 11 and 14 15', properly insulated and extending the whole length of the surfaces in contact when the shuttle is in the box; but we do not confine ourselves to the use ot' separable metallic strips 10 and 11 upon the front and rear of the shuttle-box, as the shuttle-box back 5 and binder 6 can obviously be of metal of sufficient conductivity to transmit an electric current properly insulated from the rest'ot' the loom, and instead of making the shuttle-box contact-strips as long as the surface in contact with the shuttle they can be much shorter and placed at the inner ends of the shuttle-box, so that the circuit will be completed as soon as the body of the shuttle enters the box.

The bar 18 is normally held in the path of the weft-bobbin as it enters the chamber 17 by means ot' the spring 30 and pivoted lever 2l, so that as the bobbin is inserted from above into the chamber 17 in the usual manner it will crowd the bar 18 out of its path and produce a pressure of the bar 18 against the surface of the weft on the bobbin, and as the weft is withdrawn the operative connection between the bar 18 and the contact-points, consisting in the present instance of the adjusting-screw 29 and the end of the lever 2l, will cause the circuit to be completed by the withdrawal of the weft from the bobbin.

What we claim as our invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In an electric-circuit closer for looms, the combination with a shuttle provided with an opening to receive the bobbin, and a chamber or recess for a pair of contact-surfaces,

of a pai-r of contact-surfaces inclosed in said chamber, a bar extending into the bobbinopening and arranged to bear against the weft-thread on the bobbin and connecting mechanism between said bar and the contactsurfaces in said chamber, whereby they are brought into contact as the weft is removed from the bobbin, substantially as described.

2. In an electric-circuit closer for looms,

IOO

the combination with a shuttle provided with A an opening to receive a bobbin, and a bobbin held therein, of a contact-chamber arranged at the base of the bobbin and outside said bobbin-opening, contact-surfaces inclosed in said contact-chamber and forming the terminals of an electric circuit, and means located in the bobbin-opening, comprising a yielding bar arranged to normally press against the weft, whereby said terminals are brought into contact as the weft is removed, substantially as described.

3. In an electric-circuit closer for looms, the combination with a shuttle havin gan openj ing .to receive a bobbin, of a chamber 26, a In the use of a separate inclosed contactfixed contact-surface inclosed in saidv chamber, a lever pivoted in the shuttle with one faces we do not confine ourselves to the speend entering said chamber and forming a movable contact-surface and having its opposite end entering said bobbin-opening, a bar arranged to bear against the weft of the bobbin and operatively connected with said lever, whereby the contact-surfaces are joined as the weft is removed from the bobbin, substantially as described.

4. In an electric-circuit closer for looms, the combination with a shuttle provided with an opening to receive a bobbin,ot` a bar pivoted at one end and extending transversely across the bobbin -opening and arranged to bear against the weft held. on the bobbin, a pivoted lever having a mortise receiving the free end of said bar and a contact-surface held by the shuttle in the path of said lever, whereby the circuit is closed by the rocking of said pivoted lever as the weft is withdrawn from the bobbin, substantially as described.

5. In an electric-circuit closer for looms, the combination with a shuttle provided with an opening to receive a bobbin, and a bobbin held therein, of a contact-chamber at one end of the bobbin-opening and at the base of the bobbin, contact-surfaces inclosed in said chamber and forming the terminals of an electric circuit, a pivoted lever carrying one of said contact-surfaces and extending from said contact-chamber into said bobbin-opening, said lever lying parallel with the axis of the bobbin, withits end overlapping the bobbin and means controlled by the weft, where by said lever `is rocked to bring said terminals into contact, substantially as described.

6. In an electric-circuit closer for looms,

`the combination with a shuttle and a weftbobbin carried therein, and provided with a groove to receive the weft, of a lever pivoted on said shuttle and extending across the surface of said bobbin in the plane of said groove and arranged to bear against the weft held in the groove and mechanism for completing an electric circuit and operatively connected with said lever, whereby the closing of the circuit is determined by the removal of weft from said groove, substantially as described.

7. In an electric stop-motion for looms, the combination with a shuttle provided with a bobbin or cop chamber and a separate contact-chamber, a pivoted lever extending from said bobbin-chamber into said contact-chamber, an adjusting-screwin said contact-chamL ber and in the path of one end of said lever, a bar extending transversely to the bobbinchamber and pivoted at one end to the shut= tle and having its opposite end carried by said lever, and a spring by which said lever is rocked to hold said bar against the weft on the bobbin or cop, said adj listing-screw and said pivoted lever forming the terminals of an electric circuit, substantially as described.

8. In an electric-circuit closer for looms, the combination with a shuttle provided with an opening for a weft-bobbin, of a weft-bob# bin held in said opening and having a circumferential groove to receive a portion of the weft, a'bar arranged to bear against the weft in the plane of said groove, means for applying pressure to said bar, whereby the movement of said bar is continued beyond the surface of the bobbin adjacent to said groove, and a pair ot' contact-surfaces forming the terminals of an electric circuit and operatively connected with said bar, whereby the movement of said bar as the weft is removed from said groove will bring said contact-surfaces into contact, substantially as described.

9. The combination with a shuttle and weftbobbin held therein, of a bar 18 arranged to bear against the weft, a lever 21 having one end engaged by said bar, an adjusting-screw held in said shuttle and in the path of said lever as it is rocked, and a spring applied to carry said bar 18 against the weft, said adjusting-screw and said lever forming the ter minals of an electric circuit, substantially as described.

Dated this 9th day of July, 1898.

HARRY W. SMITH. WILLIAM H. REDDING. Witnesses:

RUFUs B. FowLnn, M. C. PRICE. 

